Technical USA 2012 Fiat 500c Pop Clutch Failure Replacement at 22,000 miles

Currently reading:
Technical USA 2012 Fiat 500c Pop Clutch Failure Replacement at 22,000 miles

josemalone

New member
Joined
Mar 9, 2015
Messages
1
Points
1
I've been a lurker for a while but thought this was worth posting for any potential new owners of manual transmission Fiat 500s. I just got my USA 2012 500c Pop manual transmission back from the shop last Friday - $1,772.45, not including car rental, tow charge or gas for rental. Basically, 2K all in. The culprit was the pressure plate. The clutch disc, release bearing, etc. were all in great condition, although I opted to replace these. Like many others, once this fails it causes the Clutch Slave Cylinder to blow so you really have to replace everything. One of the output shaft seals was leaking (not really related to clutch problem) so we replaced it as well. All in all this is totally messed up for so few miles on this car. Millage was 22,800 when it blew. This is a daily local driver. I haven't even needed to have the original brake pads changed yet! I got the run around with the dealer that they'd need to run some "tests" and manual trans. only have a 1 year / 12,000 warranty so I had it taken to my local mechanic. Fiat Roadside assistance charged me $100 since I wouldn't be taking it to the closest dealer 18 miles away, but to my local shop 1.4 miles away. They also didn't use the local towing company that whose fleet you see roaming around. After many failed attempts and two days later this other tow truck guy finally shows up. Needless to say I was shadowing him the whole time and followed him to the shop, even as close as it was. My mechanic's opinion is the transmission is under built and he showed me what a similar sized car's transmission parts looked like. I forgot what model it was from but the release bearing was twice the size and the pressure plate was massive compared to the Fiats. Other than a few rattling parts (driver's window and steering column cover) this has been the only major service I've had to do on the car, but come on, I can't believe Fiat thinks replacing the clutch ever 22,000 miles is acceptable. In hindsight I should of seen about sourcing some aftermarket clutch parts.
 
I've been a lurker for a while but thought this was worth posting for any potential new owners of manual transmission Fiat 500s. I just got my USA 2012 500c Pop manual transmission back from the shop last Friday - $1,772.45, not including car rental, tow charge or gas for rental. Basically, 2K all in. The culprit was the pressure plate. The clutch disc, release bearing, etc. were all in great condition, although I opted to replace these. Like many others, once this fails it causes the Clutch Slave Cylinder to blow so you really have to replace everything. One of the output shaft seals was leaking (not really related to clutch problem) so we replaced it as well. All in all this is totally messed up for so few miles on this car. Millage was 22,800 when it blew. This is a daily local driver. I haven't even needed to have the original brake pads changed yet! I got the run around with the dealer that they'd need to run some "tests" and manual trans. only have a 1 year / 12,000 warranty so I had it taken to my local mechanic. Fiat Roadside assistance charged me $100 since I wouldn't be taking it to the closest dealer 18 miles away, but to my local shop 1.4 miles away. They also didn't use the local towing company that whose fleet you see roaming around. After many failed attempts and two days later this other tow truck guy finally shows up. Needless to say I was shadowing him the whole time and followed him to the shop, even as close as it was. My mechanic's opinion is the transmission is under built and he showed me what a similar sized car's transmission parts looked like. I forgot what model it was from but the release bearing was twice the size and the pressure plate was massive compared to the Fiats. Other than a few rattling parts (driver's window and steering column cover) this has been the only major service I've had to do on the car, but come on, I can't believe Fiat thinks replacing the clutch ever 22,000 miles is acceptable. In hindsight I should of seen about sourcing some aftermarket clutch parts.

wait a minute fiat didnt agree to cover it under warranty?

my clutch was fine when i changed it at 90,000 km but i have had many transmission issues with my car. i really feel the fiat 500's transmission is not built strongly and that while most cars may be problem free, it is not strongly engineered in the least.
 
The 5 speed manual is pretty solid. Few houses down my street has a 160,000kms fiat pop. No trouble apart from shocks and front wheel bearing.
 
I suspect this issue is unique to USA cars.
 
There is a small group of 2012 us models that seem to have issues with the clutch.
 
Back
Top